Mumbai: Only man to walk free in 11/7 case to seek compensation from state

Abdul Wahid Din Mohammed Shaikh, (36), the only man to have walked out free in the July 11, 2006 bomb blasts case, visited the Sessions court on Monday to receive a copy of the judgment. After the arguments on quantum of sentencing, he addressed the media.

Shaikh said he and the other accused are also victims of 11/7. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Shaikh, who said his life has been completely ruined by his arrest and nine-year jail term, said he will seek compensation from the state. “I have suffered for these nine years and don’t have a job. My life is completely ruined. Like those 188 victims who died, even we are victims. I am relieved that I am free but others are unjustly jailed,” he said.

Shaikh said that after going home, he had first met his mother. “My mother was very happy to see me home but she is also sad that her other 12 sons couldn’t come back and they are still in jail. While I was in jail my wife stayed at her parents’ house and was working as a teacher and also looked after the family,” he said.

On Friday, a Special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court convicted 12 others for the blasts. Shaikh, who had been accused of providing his home in Mumbra for harbouring Pakistanis (said to be involved in the blasts conspiracy), was acquitted by the court on grounds of lack of evidence.

He further said, “I have also filed an RTI application regarding my job as a school teacher. I am also going to seek compensation from the state. I might not get it soon as the state will definitely appeal against my acquittal. So I think it will take a very long time, till I get old.”